Combined railroad tie and clamp.



No. 869,070 PATENTED OCT. 22, 1907. O. P. DE'Y. COMBINED RAILROAD TIEAND CLAMP.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 1,8. 1907.

THE mams PETERS co.` wAsmNcrou, D, c.

CLARK P. IDEY, OF KEYSTONE, WASHINGTON COMBINED RAILROAD TIE AND CLAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 22, 1907.

Application tiled February 18, 1907. Serial No. 357,986.

To all whom it may cone/1m:

Be it known that I. @man P. DEY, a citizen of the United States.residing at Keystone, in the county of Adams and State oi Washington7have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined RailroadTies and ("la-mps, oi' which the following is a specilication.

The present invention relates to a combined railroad tie and rail clamp,the object being to provide an improved tie which will prove durable andeconomical in use and which carries a novel torm of clamp by means ofwhich the rails are rigidly connected to the tie, but are permitted tohave the required lateral adjustment for gaging the road.

For ay iull umlerstanding o f the invention and the merits thereof andalso to acquire a lv'nowledge of the details of construction and themeans tor effecting the result. reference is to be had to the followingdescription and accompanying drawings., in which:

Figure l is a perspective view showing the invention applied. Fig. 2 isa vertical longitudinal sectional view.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indieat ed in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

A tie constructed in accordance with the present invention has a hollowformation and is designed to be formed from a` single elongated piece ofsheet. metal7 the longitudinal edge portions of the sheet being bentupwardly and inwardly to form the inclined sides I of the tie, and beingthen bent inwardly to orm the overlapping portions 2 constituting thetop of the tie. These overlapping portions 2 are rigidly connected bymeans of the rivets l which are preferably arranged in pairs as shown inthe drawings and extend from one end of the tie to the opposite end.

'lhe clamping means Ior positioning' the rails comprises a base plate 5and a pair of clamping members G adjust ably connected to the baseplate. In the specific formation of the base 5 it will be observed thatthe same is in the nature of an elongated strip of material providedtoward its opposite end portions with the transversely disposed ribs orteeth 7. One of the clamping in position.

l formed with the downwardly projecting laterallyT disposed serrations 9which are designed to engage the ribs 7 upon the base plat e 5 andnormally lock the clamping plate against sliding movement. Bolts 'IO areemployed for securing the base plate 5 to the top 2 oi the tie, andthese bolts also project through the slots 'll in the clamping members Gand serve to connect the clamping members to the base pla-te vWith thisconstruction it will be readily apparent that by loosening' the bolts lOthe slotted plates S can be lifted so as to remove the serrations 9 fromengagement with the ribs 7 i and can then be moved longitudinally inorder to adjust the position of the rail. Attention is directed to thefact that the top 2 of the tie which normally receives and distributesthe pressure exerted by the rails is composed of the overlapping edgesof the sheet metal of which the tie is formed, the said overlappingedges mutually reinforcing each other and thereby producing` a tie whichwill withstand considera-ble hard usage.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. In a device of the character described, the combina4 tion ot' ahollow tie formed ot sheet material. the edges of which overlap at, theupper portion of the tie. a. rail clamp carried by the tio, and a fa'eningl member securing the rail clamp to the tie and p ing through thosaid overlapping` edges of the sheet material.

'.l. In a device ot the character described. the combination of a hollowtie formed of sheet material. the edges of which overlap at the top el'the tie` and a rail clamp eoniprisilml a base plate and rail clampingmembers bearingl against the base plate. bolts beine.l employed tosecure the base plate to the overlapping edges ot' the sheet metal ofwhich the tie is formed and the said bolts also serving to adjust'ablivconnect tho rail clamping members to the base plate,

In a device of the character described.l the combinaw tion of a hollowtie formed ol' sheet material and cour pris-ing inclined slides and atop formed h v the overlapping edges of the sheet material. and a railclamp comprising a base plate and rail clamping.;l members bearinf;lagainst' the base plate. bolts being employed to secure the base plateto the top of the tie. and said bolts also serving io at'ljustablysecure the rail clamping members to the hase plate.

4. A tie formed of a single piece of sheet material and comprisinglinclined sides and a top somewhat narrower than the bottom andconstituted by the overlapping edges oi' the piece ot sheet; material.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CLARK l. DRY. [n si Witnesses IioLLa T. STONE.

D. W. CIRCLE.

